Tales of a Chambermaid
by The PrinceLady
Summary: A mistook mistress. A brave and insolent maid. Creepy pirates and an ass for a hero. This troublesome adventure is just getting started.
1. Misstook Mistress

**Disclaimer: PrinceLady have do not claim any ownership over the Naruto series and their characters. No does the views and ocasionally offensive opinions necessarily represent The PrinceLady's own.** **But** **mostly.**

 **Epiloge - Mistook mistress**

The tension was unbearable.

She could feel it even before she peaked out. They gripped tightly to their weapons, and their faces were flushed of rage and shame. Just three meters from where she stood behind the door to the cabin, one of the men from her crew lay in a growing pool of blood. He gasped, and their eyes met for a second, and his eyes widened at her appearance. She held his gaze for a second, and then shifted to the scene on the deck.  
Captain Shikamaru stood in the middle, surrounded by pirates but his brown eyes intensely fixed on the man standing before him, she assumed it was the pirate's captain. The pirate's gun was pointed at Shikamaru's head, and Shikamaru's sword, was pointed to the Captain's gut. It was a close call, but they couldn't win.

"Yield" the captain ordered coldly.

It was the moment she stepped out in the sun.

Her skirts rustled quietly, but the sound drew every eye towards her. For a moment, there was absolute silence, and then her crew inhaled a deep breath, a few of them gasped. She didn't take note of them, her eyes roamed over the intruders, clearly superior in number. When she spoke, her voice was cold, and clear.

"Drop your weapons"

They hesitated, for a moment. She took another step forward. "I said, _drop your weapons._ " Her voice sharp, "Your mistress is _ordering_ you."

The clattering of metal against wood filled the air. She avoided their inquiring looks, and turned her eyes towards the captain.

He had ordered one of his men to collect the weapons, and now he met her eyes. She watched him with a mix of curiosity and disgust. What mainly caught her interest were his many pricings, which she would have liked to observe more closely, she had never seen anyone with so many. His cloths, however, were brutally practical. Basic pants, shirt and a coat, good quality she noted, but without any unnecessary ornaments. Aside from his cloths, nothing about him was ordinary, the man was tall, and he had hair in a bright, orange color. What fascinated her the most, was his eyes, they were white, with several rings inside the pupil, and they observed her with a cold, calculating look. "So this is the rumored Lady Hinata Hyuuga. It is a pleasure." He said, his voice cold, low and dripping with mockery.

She ignored a whistling from a pirate and slowly, gracefully made her way towards him and Shikamaru. She stopped only a meter before him, and for a brief moment their eyes met. He silently shook his head. She ignored him, and turned to the captain.

"Let them go", her voice was low "And I shall go willingly. You will find nothing of worth on this ship, except of the lives of me and my crew."

A sailor whistled, but she didn't bother with him, but stepped one step closer the Captain. "Release them," She whispered fiercely. "Or I will bite of my tongue and kill myself, and you'll never get your ransom, _I swear on my family's honor_. _"_

The Captain's eyes glinted with amusement. "Suigetsu" He said.

"Aye sir" A sly looking man with disturbingly pointy teeth stepped forward to the captain. "Take Lady Hinata" The captain ordered.

"With _pleasure_ …." The sailor grinned.

She turned to Shikamaru as the man made his way towards her.

"Send my regards to my precious man, dear Captain" she spoke lowly.

"Milady", Shikamaru looked pained. But she knew he approved, and this was the reason they were such good friends. Beyond the pain, she could see admiration, and beyond the admiration- triumph: because she wasn't Lady Hinata Hyuuga, but her maid; Sakura Haruno.

 **AN:**

 **Being very new to posting fanfics, I seeking someone whom I can ask for advice concerning the technical stuff like how do I make that kind of fancy line to separate some paragraphs?**


	2. A Killer Joke

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto I wouldn't be so goddamn poor.**

 **AN: Dear Guest 2, I regret to tell you there will be no Sasuhina.  
Dear Guest 3, I am happy to announce there will be no Sasuhina.  
And thank you Guest 1, I would love to hear more from you.  
**

 **A Lethal Joke**

Sakura was carried by the shark-looking man to under the other ship's deck, and was locked up in a wooden cabin with nothing but a bucket and a tiny window, not near big enough for her to climb out, _or for anyone to climb in._ Which probably was still a good thing, considering the looks the pirates had given her.

The cabin was also rather poorly cleaned, and had a distinct and funny smell. Although that was a bit bothersome, she didn't feel as concerned over it as other things. For an instance, what the pirates would do if they found out she wasn't Lady Hinata?

If she was lucky, the captain would rampage and kill her before the crew got their hands on her. She had heard rumors of what celibacy could do to sailors, and it appeared to apply to this crew. She could have had three eyes and elephant trunk, they'd still want her.

With exception of the captain of course. He was probably the sort who preferred men or more likely; no physical contact at all. Before she was locked up, he had took another look at her and asked, wherever the woman of Konoha were exceptionally plain or if the men were blind, because he saw none of the beauty which was so spoken of. Sakura would have been offended , but instead she had to hold back a laughter. Because indeed, she wasn't the rumored beauty of Konoha; that was Hinata – _which he thought he had captured._ Hilarious, except this joke was probably going to kill her.

Hinata on the other hand, was safely locked up in her own ship, in the broom closet to be precise. Her ladyship knew where her loyalty lied, with her people and with Konoha, and it had been the right decision to let Sakura take her place. However, the princess had a kind heart, and she would undoubtedly suffer from agreeing to such a decision, even is Sakura had been the one who came up with it. Therefore, as the good friend she was, Sakura had thought it best not to ask for consent and instead to knock her mistress unconscious and tuck her away together with the mops.

Thinking of Hinata, she unconsciously had started to fiddle with her dress. It was silky smooth in a beautiful color. The feeling of the familiar material comforted her. She had never worn something as close as valuable, but she had touched it many times, helping Hinata and other nobles to dress. _Maybe they'll strip me to sell it?_ She mused. _They would be stupid not to._

Her face snapped up as the heavy, red door opened and the Captain along with the shark sailor named Suigetsu stepped in.

"So, Princess, how are we doing?"

This was a tricky question. Sakura would be treated depending on how she answered. She was aware he was mocking her, so it would be in order not to answer at all. Even so, being pleasant could possibly make them treat her nicer. She doubted playing scared and stupid would draw any pity, it would probably just disgust the captain. The natural thing would be to be polite, but on the other hand, she would die either way she behaved.

"I see you've kept your tongue" the captain commented, suddenly reminding Sakura of her earlier threat. The shark like man beside him snickered. "It would be an awful waste of such a pretty mouth". Sakura decided to pretend not to hear and eyed the both carefully. "I've heard about you" she told the Captain, "You are Pein."

Suigetsu whistled. "You've done your homework sweetie." Again, Sakura ignored him. Her eyes narrowed as she looked in the captain's eyes. "From what I heard, you do not kidnap royalties on a mere whim. May I ask who hired you?"

Pein raised an eyebrow, "you are correct in you assumptions. You are to be sold, the buyer is none of your business."

Sakura did not agree, but found it unwise to argue with him. She contented herself with giving him a look almost as cold as his own. "Then, why do you honor me with your presence?"

"Suigetsu" Pein spoke nonchalantly.

"Will do Captain." Suigetsu gave her a creepy smile and took out a key from his pocket. With the same, very creepy smile he unlocked the cell and stepped in. "Excuse my rudeness Milady" he breathed as he stepped closer to her. Sakura felt her heart turn to ice as the pirate reached out his disgusting paw towards her clothes. Startled, she slapped his hand away and quickly backed up against the wall, as far as she could get from him. "What's this?" she hissed, unable to contain her upset. "There will be no profit in raping me" She added, although that thought hardly comforted her.

"Oh, believe me milady, I'd sign up anyway." Suigetsu chuckled, "sadly, what we're after is that fancy dress of yours."

Sakura blinked. Oh right, expensive silk. Silly her. "Then" she said (feeling rather relieved) and slapped away his hand when it reached out for her again. "I can undress myself."

"We'll still have to search you" Suigetsu said, a bit irritated as he rubbed his hurting hand and took a firm grip of her wrist and yanked her against him. "Quit struggling." To his very surprise, Sakura did just that. Better not to give that mutated guppy a chance to grope her she reasoned coldly. She even assisted him with the obi which he had problems to untie. _Not used to fancy women huh_ Sakura would have liked to comment, but refrained from doing so, in case the captain decided he would give his underling a chance to gain this experience, (Jokes on him, he wouldn't get any wiser in that area).

After they've stripped her to her underclothes, they proceeded to do some various comments which she ignored with- what she at least thought was- a princess' dignity. She didn't even yelp when Suigetsu patted her behind before he stepped out, she merely gave him a cold look.

Sakura was in fact not very affected with Suigetsu's behavior. She'd had the great misfortune of already being familiar with unpleasant and impolite men. In fact, she had been dealing with those since she was a little girl, when rip roaring drunk (and also sober) samurais had been harassing her beautiful servant mother, Mebuki.

Mebuki Haruno had in fact not only been beautiful, she had been painfully, bewitchingly beautiful- the kind of beautiful which made Hinata look like a plain farmer's wife and Sakura like a filthy mutt. Mebuki Haruno had caught (and crushed) the hearts of thousands of men, but despite what her appearance suggested she was a rather grumpy and old fashioned. She preferred hard, honest work rather than become some rich man's precious concubine or wife.

Aside from Sakura herself, there was no suggestion that Mebuki ever had wanted to be involved with a man, rich or poor, ugly or handsome. Sakura had always thought the nonsense stories told about storks delivering babies had been more likely in Mebuki's case, especially since Sakura looked nothing like her mother. But she had never envied her mother. Beauty had never suited Mebuki, and the woman hadn't grieved when her looks had been ruined by hard work and age. Sakura pictured her mother the last time she saw her, when the rain had poured that one night, and Mebuki's hair had become more grey than blonde, the wrinkles already deep in her forehead, and her pretty, sensual lips were formed in a thin line.

Sakura sighed. She wondered what Mebuki would say if she saw her now.

After three days of hardy any food, and a very limited amount of water, which she regretfully decided wasn't near enough to satisfy both her thirst and hygiene, Sakura was very cranky. If she had a mirror, she probably would have seen dark circles under her eyes, and the former, neat hair up-do had been taking down in a tousled braid. She had no idea where she was going, and whom she was expected to fool on her identity. She expected Hinata would reach Suna in a day or two, and then when the rumor of her arrival to Suna would reach her -whoever it would be, captor, was hard to say. If they traveled for long, it could probably take weeks. Sakura dearly hoped not. Worse than the smell and the itching in her private parts, was the boredom. Better just end it with a slash of the sully captain's sword. If she was lucky, he'd get so pissed he'd just kill her on the spot instead of feeding her to his creepy crew.

Suigetsu, the shark like pirate had made a habit to come and taunt her once in a while. Much to her chagrin, she found herself looking forward to those visits, mostly because he often came with some kind of food, but also because his presence was a distraction from her immense boredom. His conversation was not the least bit witty or intelligent, actually they were often downright offensive, even for a hardy servant like her, but it was still a conversation. If she'd been allowed to bite back, it might even have been amusing. Sadly, she still had to hold up her princess façade, which meant no quarrel with the enemy.

"So, you have a fiancé in Suna?" Suigetsu smirked, "what is he going to say when he finds out?"

Sakura wasn't sure what prince Sabaku no Gaara would have done if Hinata got kidnapped. To think that he would pay ransom was somewhat unlikely, since it would be the same as admitting he was weak in negotiations and invite to more blackmailing. Maybe he would marry Hinata's sister Hanabi instead. She frowned. It would only serve him right!

Of course it was not entirely impossible that Sabaku no Gaara would take a kidnapping as a grave insult and hurry up and come to her rescue on his white stallion. Obviously the white stallion would be ridden by some assassin, and not Gaara himself, but it would be a rescue no less.

But if he heard that Hinata's trusted chambermaid had been kidnapped in her place, Sakura imagined the most he'd do was purpose a toast to her excellent servant quality. Or actually, that seemed a bit too much. Perhaps he'd nod approvingly? She did think she could deserve an approving nod for sacrificing her own life for his future wife's. Although it didn't really matter whether he would nod or not, she was going to die either way.

With this solemn conclusion, she took a careful sip of the porridge Suigetsu had brought her "I wouldn't tell you that" she answered calmly. "Unless, perhaps, you tell me where you are taking me?"

Suigetsu, who was placed on the floor, a few feet away from the bars, chuckled lowly. "Not a chance sweetie. But I promise that however it is he'll be _very_ happy to see you."

 _Sounds promising_ Sakura thought sarcastically and took another sip of her ridiculously small portion of porridge. Slimy and unnecessarily salty it was, but she wasn't picky. _Taste is only for those who can afford it_ had been her mother's motto, which she had lived by to the point where Sakura had suspected she did the food untasteful on purpose, just to discipline her daughter.

"Not your usual stuff huh?" Suigetsu smirked, misinterpreted her scowl. She hurriedly schooled her expression; she gave him what she thought was a noble shrug. "It's edible." She answered.

Suigetsu laughed, "You're a rather tough noble. I thought you'd be starving by now. But I suppose you court ladies have a small appetite."

She didn't bother to answer this time, she was growing bored even with his repetitive conversations. Instead she thought of Hinata.

Sakura knew Hinata would try and save her. Either she would plead to Gaara or her father. They wouldn't care of course, but maybe Hinata would find someone she could hire on her own. Truthfully, even if she did find anyone, which she doubted, it was not very likely that they would succeed. But at the very least, Hinata would try. Yes, she could find some comfort in that. Her friend did care for h…  
BOM.

Her very sentimental thoughts were rudely interrupted with a loud noise. She hurried up and looked out the window, but she didn't see anything. "Suigetsu, was that a canon?" She asked.

Suigetsu had stood up and was already on his way up the stair. "Stay still," he hissed, "don't make a sound!" he ran up the stairs, and Sakura could hear there was frantic activity upstairs. Sakura listened closely, but no one shouted something along the line: "It's Gaara's who has come to reclaim his pink haired maiden!" or "it's pirate hunters!" so she really had no way of knowing what was happening. Somehow, she couldn't bring herself to care much. She leaned back towards the wall, listening a bit absentminded to the sound of swords clashing, and anguish screams. She did think they deserved a bit of terror, but at the same time, she doubted it would be any good for her either. It wasn't like anyone had come to her saving…

The door burst open, and a huge young man went right up to her. "Don't be alarmed princess" he said kindly, "I'm Yuugo and I'm here to save you."

Sakura gaped. "What?"

The man reached out his hand. "I'm here on behalf of Lord Sasuke Uchiha. Please allow me to carry you to safety"

Sakura's head was spinning. Obviously the man thought she was Lady Hinata, but who was this Uchiha? Could she trust him?  
Haha! Who was she kidding. It wasn't like she had any options.

She quickly nodded her approval. He wasted no time and immediately lifted her up and threw her over his back like she was a sack potatoes.

Juugo moved quick over the deck, and in the chaos, no one seemed to notice them. He simply ran to the reeling, jumped on and walked over a plank which went to the other ship. He sat her down on the deck and told her to hide behind some barns. Rescue complete.

As Juugo screamed to his crew to retreat to the ship, Sakura sat behind the barns, concealed under a sailor's jacket, and she wondered if perhaps she should drop the princess act, it seemed rather rude to trick her saviors. She decided that as soon as she was sure they wouldn't feed her to the sharks, she'd tell the truth. Being a princess was really troublesome anyway.

As soon as they seemed to have left the pirates behind them, Juugo's kind face appeared above her hiding spot. "It's alright to come out now your highness."

Sakura slowly crawled forward and Juugo helped her up. "Are you alright?" He asked, sounding concearned.

"Yes," Sakura smiled up at him. "Thank you for saving me".

When she turned around to see the crew stood around her, and she was suddenly aware of how dirty and unladylike she looked. Her hair was still in its messy braid, and she was only dressed in her undergarments. Sakura the servant had merely shrugged, dirt wasn't dangerous, and many of the crew members looked pretty filthy themselves. However, a princess like Hinata she should be embarrassed beyond belief. The last time Hinata had been anywhere near this filthy was when she was newborn. No, Sakura was sure the Hyuuga mistress' vagina must have been better than Pein's cabin.

At the moment she wasn't completely sure which category she would belong to, a princess or a maid, and found herself unsure which the next action would be.

She was in between bowing and apologize for her untidy appearance or sheepishly thank them for their heroism and inform them that if Lady Hinata _knew_ what they had done for her, she would surely be flattered, when the crew turned around to watch an approaching figure. Sakura followed their gazes and her eyes fell on a man who stepped forward.

 _He looks like a lovely flower in the_ spring was her first thought. While that almost sounded like an insult, the man was actually exceedingly pretty, especially considering he was on a ship full of shabby men (and one woman). His black hair and eyes proposed a lovely contrast to his flawless, pale skin, making him similar to a porcelain doll. Despite a fairly impressive height and a obviously masculine build, he was pretty in the sense women were.

He was dressed differently than the others. While the crew's clothes went in brown and grey colors, he had a white neat shirt, sprayed with blood, and black pants. She could tell they were rather expensive. He was cleaning his sword with a napkin, when he was done, he inspected the work critically, and thereafter turned his eyes to Sakura. Despite him not really looking the part, he was probably Sasuke Uchiha, Captain of the pack of sailors that were staring rudely at her. She noticed with no small amount of dread, that he looked at her with the same cold, calculating look as the captain. New circus, same clowns it seemed. On the bright side, he looked less freaky. Hopefully he wouldn't sell her to some weirdo.

Remembering her manners, she stepped forward and curtseyed. She had been on her way to bow, when she remembered it was the way of servant girls and men. In the middle of the curtsey she remembered she no longer had to operate under false identity and she should just bow as servant girls did, but she was still rather confused about the latest events.

"And you are the Captain to which I owe my thanks?" she asked, trying not to let her inner tumult show on her face.

His eyes studied her disheveled figure. "Yes, I'm Sasuke Uchiha. And you are Lady Hinata Hyuuga?"

Sakura was just about to take a deep breath and say "Nope" when Sasuke interrupted her.

"How disappointing. According to the rumor Lady Hinata is supposed to be a flawless beauty, but…" he didn't finish the sentence, but it was enough. Some men in the crew giggled like annoying little girls and Sakura felt something snap.

Before she took Hinata's place _no one_ had ever complained about her looks. In fact she had had several admirers, admittedly not _all_ of them were of any impressing quality, but nerveless it gave no one the right to insult her, especially after all she had gone through! And if any time would be unfair to compare her to Hinata, or any woman for that matter, it would be now.

Besides, if he did think she was Hinata Hyuuga, he was unbelievably rude. Not only was she of royal blood and the future wife of King Gaara, she was a traumatized female goddamnit. In short, this captain was an asshole, and she would make sure he knew that.

She took a deep breath "I sincerely apologize for not meeting your expectations. I assure you will be compensated". She bowed her head after flashing him her prettiest smile.

Later. When they were off international waters. She was after all, a woman with priorities.

"Hn" The captain gave her a disdainful look.

Juugo had shown her to a cabin prepared for her, and soon returned with water she would wash herself in and in her eager to get clean she almost stripped down in front of him. After presenting her with a clean dress he hurryingly left with flaming cheeks. Sakura spent the next blissful hour in the company of water and lots and lots of soap. When she was done, she made her hair in what she assumed was a neater braid than the last, there was no mirror to make sure, and dressed herself in the dress that was provided. It was a bit too big to her, but it was comfortable and clean, and she felt better than she had in days. When someone knocked on the door, she chirped "Come in" with a delightful tone. What came in made her raise her eyebrows a bit.

Before her in the room stood not only the sully ass of an captain, but also a disturbingly familiar figure.

"Suigetsu?" she furrowed.

"Milady" he grinned and bowed, just a tad mockingly.

She turned to Sasuke, more puzzled than upset. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Suigetsu was a double agent." Sasuke said simply, "when you were captured, he immediately informed me, and I took care of the matter."

"Ah" Sakura narrowed her eyes. "Then have you been aware of this Pein's plans for quite some time?"

"Not really" Sasuke said coolly, "we suspected he might have something like this in mind, but we had no proof."

"Either way, my family and I should have been informed" Sakura had momently forgotten that she wasn't Hinata, and was genuinely upset. "A thing like this might damage me and my family's reputation." She said disapprovingly. And it was true. If Hinata _had_ been kidnapped by pirates, various of speculation of Hinata's virtue would undoubtedly come out of it.

"We didn't want take the risk and alarm Pein. I am sorry for any eventual inconvenience." Sasuke said and did not look sorry in the slightest.

 _You'll be sorry soon enough_ Sakura thought grimly. If Sasuke took reputation so lightly, _surely_ he wouldn't mind if she spoiled his a little. She removed her irritated grimace and instead, smiled coolly at him. "Regardless, I am thankful to you." She said calmly, "and I must congrate your underling on his excellent acting."

"Anytime milady" Suigetsu mumbled.

"Now, if you don't mind." Sakura sat down at the only chair in the cabin, and gave Sasuke her best, piercing stare. "would you tell me who did me the honor of bidding on me?"

"It is unclear" Sasuke seemed reluctant to admit. "Pein were exceptionally careful, and Suigetsu who was forced to blow his cover to early, was never able to find out."

 _That_ was unfortunate. Sakura noted until later that if Lord Uchiha wouldn't be furious with her for tricking him, undoubtedly he would be furious for ruining his double agent plan. She nodded, only showing a blank face while she cackled evilly on the inside. Serves him right!

"Juugo will be here with your meal soon" Sasuke said, "please refrain from calling me unless it's something important."

"Of course" Sakura curtsied gently, "and thank you again for going through all this trouble." She couldn't help but grin at this, but Captain Uchiha had already turned his back to her and Suigetsu only gave her a funny look.

Lately Sakura's life had been somewhat repetitive.

Although there was a larger amount of water.

There was a larger amount of food.

There was a larger selection of clean clothes.

But the boredom was all the same, if not worse. She wasn't allowed to go out on deck, because she'd disturb the crew (like she'd be interested in talking to those monkeys), and there was no worry for her life and virtue (cough) that could occupy her mind. She missed her conversations with Suigetsu more than she could ever imagine. Although the stupid fish-man flashed his usual creepy smile from time to time when he delivered food, he was eerily polite. Though she'd rather bite her tongue off than admit she missed his old attitude. Obviously she was on her way to be bored silly. Solitude was such a scary thing.

A typical hour in the cabin of Captain Uchiha's ship passed with Sakura rearranging her hair approximately 34 times, counting the cracks in the wood (about 70 in the floor, 272 on the walls and 93 in the ceiling), several brave attempts of making symphonies by banking her fists against the wooden floor. She found the sound strangely satisfying. But not nearly so satisfying that she would do it all the time, and by the time Suigetsu finally, _finally_ reported that they were nearing Suna she felt oddly…fizzy in her head. And perhaps that was why she never really analyzed her hopeless situation. Sakura's brain – intoxicated by boredom, was still able to realize that entering Suna as Lady Hinata only would serve to complicate her life further. Hence, she had to leave the boat before anyone noticed, and so far was all good. However, stating those facts had exceeded Sakura's current brain capacity, and in her foolishness she formed following plan:

1\. Sneak out of the cabin.  
2\. Steal one of the monkey-minion's clothes.  
3\. Jump into the water.  
4\. Swim into safety (a.k.a the hell away from the captain)  
5\. Go to the palace and reclaim her position as Hinata's maid.

She saw absolutely no reason why it wouldn't work.

Step one was quickly completed. The door wasn't locked, so she peeked out. The sight that met her would have discouraged may brave souls, but not Sakura. Armed with nothing audacity, she stepped out of the shadows and simply walked past the sailors, demonstratively avoiding their looks with her head held high and went to locate the stair leading down to the sailor's monkey-den. After locating a stair and following it, it was soon apparent that the most difficult part of her plan was to find any decent clothes. Most of them were not only worn out, but dirty, sweaty and stiff with salt. After discharging a number of items, she finally settled for a grey shirt and a pair of brown pants she chose because they had an attached belt. After some thought she also stole a bandana to cover her hair. Since no one was the she took her chance and changed on the spot. She rolled up the kimono to a bundle of cloth who rested comfortably under her arm. After covering her hair was not visible under the bandana, and eagerly exited the room.

On the deck, the sailors had started to prepare for entering land, and she was careful to look in the ground, trusting them all to be too busy to notice her.

Perhaps the sailors simply didn't believe a lady could be so incredibly stupid to try pull the stunt Sakura did. Perhaps the sailors were stupid. Perhaps Sasuke Uchiha would have stopped it all, if he had bothered to take his royal ass out of his cabin.

Either way, Sakura could wait peacefully on deck as Suna's drew even closer. And when she felt the distance was short enough, she sneaked to the back of the ship, swung herself over the reeling and fell in the water with a small splash.

And the sailors were none the wiser.

 **AN: As for the romance genre, I couldn't fit it in the "Choose you genre" because there were only two alternatives. Same with characters (but three).** **As for pairings, who knows? Certainly not you.  
**


	3. The village, The Heat, the People

**Disclaimer: The PrinceLady says for the last time that she does not own Naruto or its characters, because if she did Sasuke wouldn't have been such a *COUGH COUGH* Ahem.**

 **The village, the heat, the people**

The water had 2 effects on Sakura.

For one, it made her bloody cold. (Which was strange, Suna was supposed to be cooking).  
And also, it made her strangely paranoid.

How had she actually gotten through with this stupid plan in the first place? It had been _so bad_. Barely a plan even, and now when the more critical steps were over and done with, it seemed so suspicious they had passed without a major consequence. Granted, she was now shattering teeth in Suna's water, and it _seemed_ to be fine, but it just couldn't be that easy. Could it?

She swam forward, she anxiously kept an eye on the ship, waiting for the creepy captain to turn up from nowhere and drown her there and now. But as the distance on approximately 800 meters shrank, she relaxed more. The ship had turned left to sail further along the harbor, maybe to find a more suitable location for a noble to park his ship. Not that Sakura knew anything about that. Her first trip on the sea had only started only two weeks ago, and frankly it had been a disaster.

Sunagakure harbor was built what appeared to be an island of honey colored stones, approximately 5 meters above the surface. The stones were silky smooth and slippery, and there was no way for her to climb up. She could hear people talking and walking not far away, but didn't want to attract unnecessary attention so instead she idly swam along the harbor, enjoying the feeling of finally moving her limbs. The water was quite nice when she got used to it. The next 20 minutes was spent blissfully weightless, while she idly observed what she could see of Suna. After she got tired she spent another 30 minutes to with increasing desperation seek for a place to climb up from the water. When she finally found a staircase going into the water – her limbs felt like jelly. Thankfully, she dragged herself out of the water and proceeded to rest blissfully for another 15 minutes. But even then, standing up proved to be rather difficult. She got up on her knees fairly easily, in spite of feeling a tad dizzy. This feeling increased drastically when she tried to stand on her feet and she promptly fell down the stairs to once again fall into the Suna water.

Apparently, several weeks on the sea had made her unaccustomed to ground that was…not _still._ She had become the victim of some kind of twisted reversed seasickness. The ground still felt like it was swaying, but that probably had something to do with her hitting her head on hard stone.  
Deciding getting up wasn't worth the effort, Sakura climbed up enough to rest her head against the stone. When she wasn't falling down on it, it was rather comfy. It was cool and smooth. Kind of comforting really…

"What are you doing?"

A tad unwillingly, Sakura looked up, meeting coal black eyes.

For a second or so, Sakura panicked. Standing on top of the stairs, was a boy with skin white as snow, hair black as ebony and a face which drew the thoughts to sour milk. Her heart was beating overdrive. It was no Captain Uchiha, but a little kid in an ugly hat. Still, he was so was suspiciously similar to the captain. Could it be one of his little devil's spawn sent out to locate the run-away? No that was ridiculous. Uchiha probably hated children, and he was asexual anyway so he wouldn't have any fun making them.

Touching her bandana to make sure it covered her hair properly, just in case; Sakura decided the kid was probably not related to Uchiha Sasuke.

"Are you a drunkard?"

The kid was still there. He was staring at her. "No" she answered after a while, "but I could certainly use a drink."

"Then why are you in the water?"

"I enjoy a good swim once in a while."

"In a port? With your clothes on?"

"Well," Sakura said hesitantly…"uhh… It's… an adult thing."

"An adult thing?"

Sakura furrowed. That had sounded better in her head. "Yeah, you'll understand when you get older." She said uncertainly.

"Inari!" a male voice was heard.

The boy, who apparently was named Inari didn't look away from Sakura.

"My dad is calling me"

"Is that so?"

"Mom says I shouldn't talk to weirdos."

"Understandable."

"Inari!" a man appeared in her view. He seemed to be in his early thirties, tanned and rugged in a nice with a prominent scar formed as an X on his chin, his hair was spiky and for reasons unknown to Sakura he had tied a rope around his head. Strange people, these Sunas.  
He paused when he saw Sakura, placing a hand on Inari's shoulder.

"Who are you talking to?"

"Her" Inari pointed helpfully at Sakura, who waved weakly.

"What are a young girl like you doing down in the water?" the man asked, sounding concerned.

"She says it's an adult thing" Inari answered helpfully.

Sakura had no answer for this, so she did what every respectable lady ought to do in a crisis; rolled her eyes back in her head and passed out.

Sakura smelt kind bread.

She had felt that smell before. Long ago. She inhaled the familiar sent with a pang of longing, or hunger, she wasn't sure. But she knew, that whoever's hands she was in, she would be alright. She refused to believe kidnappers would be considerate enough to roll out and place her on a futon that smelt faintly of dust, change her wet clothes to a comfy dress and then go and bake bread (and if they had kidnapped her, they surely had their reasons).

She slowly sat down to look around the room. It had become dark outside, and the room was lit by a single oil lamp, standing on a table. Judging by the sparse interior, this was a commoners house. The room she was in appeared to be a mixture of living room and storage. There was a shelf with a deck of card, a photo of a smiling family, and in corners were pots with flour and different spices.

"Hello."

Sakura turned her head to a pretty, dark haired woman standing in the door. She took a hesistant step in. "I hope you're not startled? You passed out in the harbor, and my husband and son brought you home. We don't usually pick strangers up like this"

"Is your son the kid with the hat?"

The woman nodded. "Inari is his name"

"Oh. I thought he said you didn't like it when he talked to weirdos?"

The woman laughed. "Well no, but I agree with Kaizo that leaving a young girl defenseless in a harbor isn't…ideal."

Sakura felt a tad embarrassed. "I usually don't sleep in those places"

The woman smiled again, she had almost non-existent wrinkles around her eyes and Sakura found it calming. "It's alright. I'm sure you had your reasons. I'm Tsunami by the way"

"I'm Sakura"

"Ok then Sakura-chan, would you like something to eat?"

Sakura was lead to a dinner table, where the kid – still wearing his horrendous hat – was sitting with the man with the rope around his head, Sakura assumed it was Kaizo. He grinned at Sakura. "You're heavier than you look"

"Kaizo" Tsunami scolded gently.

"Sorry, sorry" Kaizo held up his hands. "But I did say she didn't _look_ heavy."

The kitchen they sat in was sparsely furnished, without much decoration and rooming only practical items, but they looked well-off enough for being commoners, so she probably didn't have to feel too bad about eating their food. Not that it would have mattered. Although she started to sip rather hesitantly at the fish soup Tsunami served, she was soon gulping it down unashamedly.

"This bread" Sakura couldn't help but say, "it tastes like kind bread."

Tsunami looked surprised. "It's a variant of the recipe. It's also called "soda bread". My father used to travel a lot, he ate it in a city in the north, and took a liking to it. Are you from there?"

Sakura shook her head. "I ate it elsewhere, in my hometown"

"Where are you from?" Kaizo asked interestedly. "You don't have a particular accent."

"I come from a… small village far from here" Sakura said between gulping down the soup. "You wouldn't…know of it. Aside from the bread…there's really nothing of worth there."

"How did you end up on a harbor stair?" Inari asked bluntly, earning a shush from his step-father.

"Nah, it's alright you can know" Sakura waved away Kaiza's concern. She gave out a content sigh, finished with her soup, leaning back in her chair. "Basically I was traveling with this one ship, then I changed ship because I was doing someone a favor, I traveled with this new ship, but they were assholes, barely gave me any food, said I was ugly, so next time we met another ship I got on, but they were also assholes, but they had more food so I stayed, until I got into a fight with the captain, and he's kind of petty so I decided to bail before we parked the ship so he wouldn't carry out his stupid grudge against me, but it was he who started, but I'd rather swim than fight with him so I jumped off and swam, then I didn't find anywhere to climb up from the water, then I did, and then Inari-kun found me."

All this she said very fast.

"Uh… I see" Tsunami looked confused and a little concerned. "I hope you are alright?"

"Never been better" Sakura assured her. Supposedly, she had, like when she didn't have a death threat over her head but you know, she felt rather content at the moment.

Now she only needed to decide on the next action. The most sensible thing would be to get the hell out of the city before she was convicted for fraud or something equally unpleasant, but something held her back.

Hinata.

Sakura frowned unconsciously, earning a few strange looks from the family. She didn't owe Hinata anything, if someone owed someone it was _definitely_ the other way around but… Hinata was probably heartbroken with guilt over Sakura's sacrifice. Even if she heard that she had escaped from Uchiha, and there was no guarantee that she _would_ , she wouldn't be sure if it was an excuse the captain gave to simply kill Sakura on the spot. Nay, no matter how much she could pretend to consider other alternatives, the 5-step-plan had involved Hinata for a reason, Sakura wanted to go back to her. And the gods knows why, but she would.

So she needed to get to the Palace, supposedly it wouldn't be too hard to find, but how would she sneak in? How would she even find Hinata? The easiest way would be if she worked there. But did the suna palace even recruit strangers?

"Did you do something illegal?" Inari wondered, interrupting her serious train of thought.

This time Tsunami sent her son a stern look and they boy suddenly became very interested in his soup.

"Is this your first time in Suna?" Tsunami tactfully changed the subject. Sakura nodded.

"You guys don't happen to know how one can get a job at the palace?"

You go Sakura. Just word-barf out your thoughts randomly. Not suspicious at all. Nono.

The family around the table gave her weird looks. "You came her to work in the palace?" Kaizo asked. "There's plenty of other places to work"

"I have someone I need to meet there" Sakura said truthfully. Because why not.

"I see… Do they work there?"

She nodded. "Oh yes."

It was still the truth. Hinata was on a mission for her country, Sakura thought it was fair to say she was working at the palace.

The way Tsunami and Kaizo looked at her suggested that they thought it was someone more… _special_ she wanted to meet at the palace. A sentimental little smile tugged at Tsunami's lips, with just a hint of concern. Inari looked very interested, but seemed a bit hesitant to ask, in case his mother would decide to scold him again.

"I suppose it would be possible. I'm not sure how though." Tsunami said slowly. "I don't know anyone who works there."

"Maybe Tazuna knows" Kaizo proposed.

Sakura sent him a questioning look.

"You're right" Tsunami clasped her hands. "My father is a constructive worker, but he knows a lot of people. I'm sure he could set you up with someone."

"Great!" Sakura exclaimed excitedly. "Where is he?"

"Konoha."

Sakura's smile faltered. "Huh?"

"He's on a job there. Constructing a bridge, but he should be back in the next few days"

"Oh" Sakura said weakly. "Great."

"Hmm…Usually I wouldn't offer a pretty girl like you this, but since you have worked at a ship I guess it's alright…" Kaizo mused out loud, then grinned. "Wanna help me out at work? Can't give you any cash really, but you can sleep and eat here until you get a job somewhere else. What do you say?"

Sakura blinked. It had been a long time since anyone called her pretty.

She smiled. "I accept."

As the days went by, Sakura was slowly became accustomed to the life of a construction worker alongside Kaizo. He and his two colleges were working on a rather wealthy merchant's house who had (from stinginess Sakura suspected) failed to repair her roof, resulting in it eventually collapsing during a not particularly windy day. While Sakura couldn't carry the heaviest stones and wood, she quickly became skilled in hammer in nails in the right places, provide her new colleges with tools, and occasionally run after their forgotten lunch. She proved to be a better negotiator than the group of Suna men, and soon started to haggle on prized with everything from costumers to vendors who sold tools.

Originally, Sunagukure had been a part of Konohagukure but had for almost three decades ago, been overtaken by Otogakure, during the period which was known as the "Five nations war". Sunagukure, short Suna – had during 30 years inhabited people originated from Konoha, Oto as well as the indigenous population (overtaken by Konoha long – long ago) and had gradually been filled with people from all over the world. Sunagukure itself was a rather large country which was mostly uninhabitable due to the dessert, but had rather prosperous cities by the water sources. The Capital, Suna city, was the only connection to the sea, and was a curious mix of sea and dessert. There was not much greenery, but there was no shortage of water.

Eventually Suna had become an individual state, and the result was a city with a slight identity crisis. Sakura noticed soon, the Suna folks had a few things in common: resistant to the horrendous heat, a shared penchant for odd hats and suspicion towards strangers. Especially towards strangers from Konoha, whose relations to the city had been stiff in the first place, and worsened to the brink of war after an attack towards a Suna ambassador in Konoha five years ago.

Strangely enough, Sakura seemed to gain the trust of the inhabitants quite quickly. Perhaps was it her insistence to cover her very detectable hair, or that she was hard to place in specific geographic area. She was not a Konoha-native, which was the most important thing. Above all Sakura was a rather pleasant person when needed to be.

"You're only been here for a week and you're already taking over" Kaizo complained jokingly as Sakura completed a deal with a wood merchant.

"Well, pray your father-in-law makes it home soon" Sakura muttered, "or it won't be "practically" anymore."

Kaizo laughed. "Maybe that would be so bad, you could be my heir."

Sakura couldn't help but grin. "I'm flattered. But what about your son?"

"Ah, Inari won't be satisfied with simple house constructing. He'll want to do big things like bridges or castles, like his grandpa."

"So you mean I'm not good enough for that stuff? Now I'm hurt"

It seemed to Sakura, that the family had adopted her like one adopts a stray dog, half out of pity and half out of amusement. Tsunami seemed to enjoy having a young to help her with dinner, have her put Inari to bed and have intimate female conversations during bath time, which was a custom Sakura was familiar with from Konoha, but was surprised to find in Suna. Surely, with the hot climate (that had made Sakura collapse more than one time during the week) wouldn't allow such frivolities? It would, Sakura found out. When one was in a hot bath, the normally hot air somehow felt cooler. It was a neat little trick she absolutely couldn't wait to show Hinata.

Tsunami had noticed she was restless during the week, and had several times tried to wiggle out information about Sakura's "special one" but to no avail. One night when they had put Inari to bed, she approached the subject from a different angle.

"The stories you tell Inari" Tsunami begun, "are they about your home?"

The bath generally slowed down Sakura's brain function, and she took a while to answer. "Hmm? Which one of them?"

"The one about a village with red juicy apples and the miserable people"

"Ah, that one" Sakura frowned, "yes, it is".

"Why did you leave?" Tsunami said, curiously tilting her head in a way that made her look like a young, cute girl.

"Didn't the story convey that enough?" Sakura gave her a puzzled look. "The apples were great, but the people were awful."

Tsunami nodded. "Yes, the village people sounded quite unpleasant, but… you had this look on your face, like you missed it."

Sakura paused. "I had a family there. A very small one, and honestly we do much better without each other… but sometimes I miss them."

"Did you leave…because of a man?"

"Not exactly" Sakura squirmed a bit uncomfortable. Tsunami looked dejected and Sakura felt a bit of guilt. Tsunami wasn't really prying, probably she was concerned for Sakura. Many young girls would do foolish things and get hurt in the pursuit for love. _Many girls_ she thought darkly. She sighed, "the truth is," she said slowly, "there was a boy."

Tsunami looked up attentively, but she didn't say anything. She was obviously aware of what kind of boy Sakura was talking about. She nodded for Sakura to go on, and Sakura did, albeit a bit unwillingly.

"It was very long ago. Some things happened…" she grimaced, "nothing important, but I had to leave. And…he didn't want to come with me" she confessed.

Tsunami was quiet for a while. "I thought he worked at the palace."

"Nope. He would never stick out his precious nose of that village, He'll probably stay there all his life, baking delicious bread" Sakura tried no to sound bitter. She gave Tsunami a dry look. "And my friend at the palace is a girl. So I won't get knocked up you know"

Tsunami looked guilty and nervously started to fiddle with her hair "Why would I think that Sakura-chan? I was uhm…just…. curious."

The morning after Sakura woke up to the smell of kind bread again. _Weird_ she thought. She would usually be up way before breakfast, to follow Kaizo to work, and if she didn't wake, the man would usually come up with a very creative way to change that. Still suspicious she paddled herself over to the kitchen

At the breakfast table, usually only occupied by Inari and Tsunami, was an old man drinking tea.

He gave her a cranky look. "You're the gal who wants to work at the palace? You don't look much to me."

So cranky. Must be the old man Tazuna. Sakura could admit that sleep-tousled and clad in a too small Yukata, she didn't look much to the world, but he wasn't that pretty either. He looked rough in a way that suggested that he was accustomed to heavy, hard work, and he had a round belly, suggesting he was a drinker. Moreover, like rest of the Suna folks he had a really ugly hat, it appeared to be some sort of straw hat, but was weirdly shaped, like the shape of a retarded mushroom.

"You on the hand look like you've had a little too 'much'" Sakura gave his belly a pointed look. "For a worker, you've sure rounded out gramps."

His eyes narrowed. "You sure are rude for asking favors."

Sakura smiled, "Oh really? But I'm not the one asking you a favor, am I? Since you already know, I presume your daughter was the one asking you a favor."

The old man gave her a sour look. "What makes you think I'lldo _her_ this favor?"

"It's Tsunami." Sakura gave him a understanding look. "She get what she wants" she muttered, thinking back to last night.

The old man lifted an eyebrow, as to say "you too?" and Sakura met his gaze. Then he sighed deeply.

"You're looking for Anko, she's a drinking buddy of mine, she recruits for the palace but you'll have to convince her yourself.

"Does she recruit for the kitchen or for maid positions?" Sakura asked interested.

"Both, and for security, paramedics, tailors…you name it."

"Splendid. Where do I find her?"

"At this time…" Tazuna leaned back and sighed, "Probably at the dango stand by the market. She's got a sweet tooth."

Sakura scrunched her nose. "I can tell. Dango at this hour!" she made a pause and frowned. "Speaking of bad habits… is that hot sake in your cup?"

The old man looked tired. "Don't tell Tsunami."

Sakura didn't bother with breakfast, after asking a bit more about Anko (she was described as a scary, stubborn woman, liked sweet liquors, disliked beer) she made her merry way towards the market.

After only a week, she had been starting to get recognized by some of the vendors. Many grinned at her and waved, but she didn't stop to chat, but went directly to the dango-stand.

It was not very big, in wood . It had what appeared to be some sort of windshield, stuck out on the sides, protecting a few wobbly, placed by the disk.

On one of these chairs sat a woman with a big, spiky ponytail and a (of course) sand colored jacket. She was pleasantly occupied with eating pink dango's off a stick, and didn't spare Sakura a glance, until said person places herself on the chair beside her.

"Hey, sugertop," she grumbled, "there are other chairs."

"You're Anko Mitarashi?"

The woman turned suspiciously towards Sakura, who smiled cheerfully.

"Hello. My name is Haruno Sakura. I'm looking for employment."

"What did you come to me for?" The woman eyed Sakura suspiciously, and said person did her best to look reassuring and dependable.

"I would like to work at the palace." Sakura said, figuring there was no reason to beat around the bush. "And a little birdie told me you were recruiting."

A fat, cranky and alcoholic little birdie.

"The little birdie lied" the woman answered without looking at the girl beside her.

"Then recruit me anyway"

"Why would I?" Anko took another dango and turned to Sakura, chewing without bothering to close her mouth very properly. Sakura continued, undaunted.

"Because why not? I need a place to work, preferably somewhere were drunk sailors won't grab my ass and therefore the palace is perfect. You need people, because all palaces always need people."

For a brief moment, a smiled tugged at Anko's lips, before she picked up her uninterested facade. "What makes you think that?"

"Experience. If one of the kitchen maids already isn't knocked up, they'll be by the end of the week. And in the unlikely case they aren't, someone is sure to either die or quit sooner rather than later. Spare yourself the trouble to look for someone. I'm here, I'm experienced, I'm willing. And, I need the money" Sakura added as an afterthought.

Anko had watched her thoughtfully during her little speech, and slowly took another but of dango. Chewing with her mouth closed this time.

"What kind of experience are we talking about?"

Sakura smirked.

 **AN: Soda bread is Irish. It has absolutely nothing to do with Naruto or Japan, I just needed a name. It's tasty though.**

 **This chapter wasn't originally a part of the plan, but in the middle of writing I realized that Sakura couldn't just waltz into Hinata's chambers in the palace because then the security would really suck. And that's not all like Gaara is it?**

 **As for the pairing discussion, whatever you think, your reviews fuels my writing. A lot. Just don't uhh… expect too much romance from Uchiha in the beginning (or at all hmm?). Sakura kind of ruined his Suigetsu-the-spy-plan, so he'll be pissed.**


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